Keeping your boat and you safe with proper anchor rigging

Ed Maurer, Publisher, Florida and North Carolina

Anchoring your canoe or kayak can add flexibility to your sailing. You can anchor out while fishing or having a picnic on the water, or you can just [and should] anchor your boat to the beach during rising tides or when the wind is not directly on-shore; I’ve had boats sail off the beach [yes—more than once, thank you for noticing] without me. It’s kind of embarrassing….

There are several ways to anchor your boat and only a couple that I’ve used consistently without problems. Let’s go over this list and pick out the why’s and wherefores….

-Stern- Anchoring from the back of the boat is convenient but has its hazards. As you know, when the wind is aft, your sail fills and stays filled. When anchored, bringing the sail back amidships can be very tough and can cause a knock-down under the right [wrong?] conditions. You also cannot drop your sail when pressure is on it, and raising it can cause damage. With some rigs you can let the sail swing forward of the mast, much like sharpie sailors did when oystering in the old days. In any event, you will find problems when anchored aft and will have to be very careful technique-wise when making sail again. I do it sometimes—I let the sail swing all the way forward—but not often at all.

-Abeam- An anchor line attached to the side of your boat can cause it to broach in a current or when hit by a wave or wake. ‘Nuf said.

-Anchor trolley- A trolley system is often used by kayaker anglers so they—we—can adjust where our anchor is in relation to the boat. It allows us to move the anchor fore and aft on a traveling line to point the boat into or away from wind and current or set us up for a convenient casting angle. Two blocks are mounted to the boat, one forward and the other aft. I mount blocks on each side of my fishing kayak so I can move the anchor line from one to the other for full versatility. A line forms a snug loop between the two blocks. In the center point of this line is mounted a ring. The anchor line is passed through this ring. You then adjust where the anchor line’s attachment is expressed to the boat by pulling the ring fore and aft as needed. When weighing anchor, you can pull the ring to you and retrieve the anchor. It works like gangbusters on the kayak and it would do well on any canoe or kayak, though one must consider interference with leeboards and possibly the rudder.

-Bow- Attaching the anchor line to the bow is probably the safest and most common way to anchor, for good reason. When anchored off the bow the wind keeps the sail amidships without pressure, allowing it to be easily raised or lowered. However, anchoring from the bow also has its challenges. Having to crawl to the bow to set or weigh the anchor is just too troublesome to go into—can you see yourself doing it? Okay—no.

A method my Uncle, Capt. Carl, taught me was to have the anchor at hand. You can drop it when you need to easily enough. Now the trick is how to get it back to your hand when weighing it. Ah—the salty Capt. Carl taught me to sail above [upwind of] the anchor, let the boat fall off a bit, causing the anchor line to run across the rail. Grab the line and retrieve the anchor. It’s pretty cool, looks salty and takes skill. But…once the anchor is off the bottom—you’re sailing! So you have to get that thing aboard, free of weeds and mud all while controlling your boat. I think it can be a fun exercise, maybe even a regatta event, but limited to open areas in light winds…and downwind of where I’m anchored!